


A Cause

by RogueBelle



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Death Eaters, First War with Voldemort, Gen, House of Black, Pre-Canon, Rating: PG13, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-17
Updated: 2011-06-17
Packaged: 2017-10-20 12:29:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/212782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogueBelle/pseuds/RogueBelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At her sister's trial, Narcissa comes to a realisation about what has driven Bellatrix to this point.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Cause

The winter and spring of 1981 and 1982 were a seemingly endless parade of trials, a true and relentless media circus, the front page of the _Daily Prophet_ ever offering the very latest tidbits from the proceedings. Not, of course, that the outcomes were ever surprising.

Guilty.

Guilty.

Guilty.

It culminated in the trial of the Lestranges and their cohorts. It had taken the Aurors until February to track them down, and many said they could have escaped capture indefinitely, but for their final mistake. If they had not tarried so long with their final victims, if they had left the Longbottoms’ moments earlier, they could have easily escaped the Aurors’ net. As it stood, they had not left in time to evade the Anti-Apparition charms, and were taken by the Aurors, those defenders of light and truth in the wizarding world.

The Aurors claimed it their own prowess. The Lestranges’ supporters, though they had to do so quietly, told each other there had to have been at least two dozen of the law enforcement officials, and even then, that they would never have been able to take the Lestranges but that the Death Eaters had exhausted themselves in a week’s work on the Longbottoms.

The Lestranges had little enough support from the crowd. Those not in prison already would hardly turn out and make targets of themselves, and so the mob was a screaming, jeering one. The Dementor guards were as much for the prisoners’ protection as their wardship, keeping a violent throng at a respectable distance, and indeed Bellatrix, at least, moved as though they were her very own imperial guard. The way they did not seem to affect her was cause for comment among many. Some claimed she did not fear the loathsome creatures because they could do nothing to harm her; she had no soul left to suck out.

There was, though, one friendly face in the crowd. No one could blame the beautiful and much-beleaguered Narcissa Malfoy for coming out to see her sister’s fall. She would be the last daughter of the House of Black left standing, but it would have taken a shrewd observer to see the sheen of water clouding those perfect blue eyes. Narcissa kept herself entirely composed as she watched the proceedings, as she watched her sister chained down, as she heard the charges. Her icy façade did not falter for a moment, save for that nearly imperceptible mist, dewing her eyelashes but never falling.

_’Was it worth it, Bella?’_

The fire was flashing; the crowd went wild. This was what they had been waiting for, for the spectacle of one who refused to repent. Pleas for mercy and protestations of innocence had become quite boring; to see this beautiful young woman throw her future into the abyss so readily was something remarkable indeed. It fed their vindictive glory, made them feel triumphant, empowered, to watch the last crackling explosion of a bonfire soon to be extinguished.

_’Anything you wanted, Bella. You could have had anything. All the desires of your passionate heart...’_

She was shouting. Somehow her voice carried more than it should have. No _Sonorus_ charm lent it strength; it rang to the rafters with the clarity born of righteousness. Despite Crouch’s bellowing and the taunts of the crowd, every one of Bellatrix’s words was perfectly audible.

_’Power, love, glory... what was it you wanted so badly you were willing to sacrifice everything else? You could have been an Empress among women, Bella. And instead—‘_

A final declaration, chilling in its blazing fury, so proud, so brilliant: “We alone were faithful!”

As she passed with her Dementor guard, their eyes met, night and noon. Bellatrix smiled, with something hidden in the corner twist of her lips that Narcissa could not quite identify. Fervor? Satisfaction? Resignation? Or something between?

And then it occurred to her, even as Bella went by, giving her black curls a haughty toss. Suddenly Narcissa understood, all the games of their youth, all the strife of her prime, all the terrible beauty, the fury channeled. She knew then what had driven Bella, what had transformed her from a vivacious and captivating girl into an instrument of terror, what had ensnared her, what had tempted her from the life she could have led, from the life of the wealthiest, most powerful witch in Britain. For everything she’d ever had, for all the gifts and privileges her birth warranted her, for all the charms of her nature and the acuity of her mind, for everything in their world that would have been hers, as she well had the temerity to reach out and grasp for it – for all of that, all Bellatrix had ever truly desired was something to fight for.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this work, please check out [my blog](http://cassmorriswrites.com)! I also write original fiction, and my debut novel will be out January 2018.


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